Law limiting second-trimester abortion blocked until Nov. 22

Federal Judge Lee Yeakel had blocked the law last month. His order was scheduled to expire Friday.

Federal Judge Lee Yeakel had blocked the law last month. His order was scheduled to expire Friday.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

Photo: Courtesy Photo

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Federal Judge Lee Yeakel had blocked the law last month. His order was scheduled to expire Friday.

Federal Judge Lee Yeakel had blocked the law last month. His order was scheduled to expire Friday.

Photo: Courtesy Photo

Law limiting second-trimester abortion blocked until Nov. 22

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AUSTIN — A federal judge has further delayed enforcement of a new state law restricting a common second-trimester abortion procedure and set a trial to begin in early November.

U.S. District Court Judge Lee Yeakel of Austin set the trial date for Nov. 2, granting a request from the attorney general’s office and abortion clinics suing the state, and extended by some three weeks his order blocking the law, to Nov. 22.

Yaekel’s initial order — issued Aug. 31, a day before the law was set to take effect — was scheduled to expire Friday.

The law restricts the use of dilation and evacuation abortions, in which a physician uses medical equipment to remove fetal tissue.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, which filed the suit on behalf of women’s health providers in Texas, argues the law limits access to the safest abortion procedure used after 15 weeks.

The state has argued the law is meant to end the “gruesome” practice of “dismembering” a living fetus.

Under the law, physicians would have to initiate fetal demise before beginning the procedure. The Center for Reproductive Health has said, however, that the methods used to cause fetal demise are invasive and pose medical risks for the mother.